Behavioral Health & Recovery Services Blog

This past July, the Office of Diversity and Equity was proud to recognize two new Heath Ambassador Program (HAP) graduates, Margarita and Cynthia. The Health Ambassadors were awarded their HAP certificate at the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Recovery Commission.  Margarita and Cynthia are pictured below and accompanied by fellow former graduates, facilitators and the Director of Behavioral Health & Recovery Services.

From Margarita: “I am a mother, I work, I am a volunteer, and I am a recent graduate of the Health Ambassador program. The courses I took in the Health Ambassador program have helped me a lot in my personal life as well as in my work in the community. The mental health courses were especially interesting and I would like to continue to learn and to educate myself.  Because of all these positive changes that I’ve had in my life, I am a positive, understanding, and optimistic person who likes to listen to others.”

From Cynthia: “I am a recent graduate of the Health Ambassador program. I am a mother of three kids and the classes I took have given me a lot of information. Through these clases I learned about mental health and substance abuse, I also learned how to interact with my family and others free of stigma and to be a strong, confident and positive person. I took these classes to educate myself and to help my 9-year old son, which I have accomplished. As a result, I have also learned to recognize mental health issues with my family and others and am able to educate, inform and guide them better since we all have needs and often have the same problems and we judge instead of help each other.”

 

HAP was created in recognition of the important role that community members serve in effectively reaching out to others.  Health Ambassadors teach youth and adult courses in their community, assist in identifying needs and help to make a change, participate in various opportunities and are paid a stipend for their contributions.

We thank the graduates for their time and dedication to informing, educating, and making an impact to reduce the stigma around mental health and substance abuse.